course: AGRA 0715 Tilallinen
graafinen suunnittelu á Environmental Graphics
topic: guidance for the Lapland
University
lecturer: Markus Schršppel
Task: An university is an institution of higher learning
providing facilities for teaching and research. The goal is to offer courses to
prepare people to work in various sectors of the economy or areas of culture.
The studies at those different research and design institutions will lead to a
degree (such as a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree). A university has
to meet the high expectations of the public in an increasingly challenging
environment. For students, visitors, suppliers, and staff alike, navigation in the
university is a frequent problem. People in an university who will lose their
way, take a longer time than necessary to find their destination, are late for
appointments, and have a bad experience. Some of them will eventually ask every
adult they meet and thereby spread the problem. Students and staff being late
for appointments means an inefficient use of scarce material resources and
manpower. In the long term, wayfinding problems can probably add up to many
years of lost university productivity. On top of this, inferior signage and
other kinds of bad wayshowing give the university and the whole education
system a bad reputation. System design may help the visters of the Lapland University to have a more
stressless stay.
Your
task in this course is to develope a guidance system for the Lapland University including all the
wayshowing clues that can support the students, visitor or other external users
before arrival to the university. The kind of media is up to your decission and
experience during the course. The information could be present a general plan
of the university and its surroundings, or a route map that show the different
departments, or a large icon based board at the entrance continuing to the lecture
rooms. It could also include pre-visit information about accessibility, public
transportation, and private parking. A good guidance system will help the user
to plan the visit at the university.
final
presentation of your ideas on April 1st, exhibiting your designed elements, vinyl cut icons or digital
animated slideshow ...
The
professional wayshowing designer will research the problem before he devises
the solution. As in other fields of professional work, diagnosis precedes
treatment. A thorough analysis of the present wayfinding/wayshowing is the
natural point of departure for any improvement.
Have fun!